No grains, no dairy, no refined sugar Pumpkin Roll

My husband, Zach has never had a sweet tooth and desserts just aren’t his thing. But there is one dessert he looks forward to every Fall and it’s the pumpkin roll.

I love desserts and love all things pumpkin, so obviously I’ve always had a thing for the pumpkin roll, too. This year I wanted to recreate the pumpkin roll and make a healthier version of my husband’s beloved dessert.

This pumpkin roll has no grains and no refined sugar and it is so much healthier than the traditional pumpkin roll that is loaded with refined sugar and flour. This recipe even has a delicious dairy free option for those who cannot tolerate dairy (I actually prefer the dairy free version). And, it’s so, so good! No one will ever know it’s healthier 😉

True story: When I finished my masterpiece pumpkin roll, I put it in the fridge. Later that night, Zach went to get some water and the pumpkin roll fell out (so he says) and it was pretty much destroyed. I was able to salvage some pieces for the picture, but I couldn’t take a picture of the whole roll because it was a hot mess. My theory is that he did this on purpose so I would have to make another roll. I think I’m onto something, don’t you? 😉

Zach ended up getting his way and I made another pumpkin roll 😉 This time, I made the maple whipped cream cheese filling. As you can see, my pumpkin roll did crack a bit on the top. It may do that as you roll it up, but don’t worry! If looks are very important to you and you don’t want any cracks showing, here’s a good and delicious option: You can save a little bit of filling and use it to frost the top of the roll with extra filling. You can also sprinkle some chopped nuts (yum!) on top of the icing topped roll to make it look extra special. You can also serve the pumpkin roll in 1 inch slices and no one will be able to tell it cracked. It’s so good, no one will care anyway 😉

Preheat oven to 325. In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, maple syrup, eggs, vanilla and coconut oil. Mix together the coconut flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin spice. Combine the wet and dry ingredients together and stir until combined.

Line a 15×10 jelly roll style pan with parchment paper (very important!). Let some parchment paper hang over the ends. Pour your pumpkin mixture into the pan. With a spatula, even out the mixture so it’s nice and flat in the pan. Bake for 30 minutes.

Let cool for a few minutes. Don’t let it completely cool (also very important!). You still want it to be warm.

This is the tricky part. Using your parchment paper, start with the small side of the pumpkin roll (the 10 inch side) and roll up with the parchment paper and all. Mine did crack at a few places, but that’s ok. Just roll it up nice and tight in the parchment paper and let it cool.

Now it’s time to make the filling.

Dairy free whipped filling directions:

Your coconut milk will whip the best when the cans are chilled in the fridge for at least one day. I also put my bowl and mixers in the freezer for at least an hour to help it along. Get just the cream out of the coconut milk can by pouring the water out. Dump the cream into your mixing bowl and mix in the rest of the filling ingredients. Whip until smooth and soft peaks have formed. Depending on your coconut milk, you may or may not need a thickener. The mixture without a thickener will also get harder in the fridge, so you do not need a thickener if you don’t want to add one. I did go ahead and added 1 tablespoon of arrowroot and it made it just the consistency that I was looking for.

Cream cheese whipped filling directions, if you are using the dairy version:

Whip together ingredients until smooth and creamy – about 10 minutes.

Once your roll is cool, unwrap and spread your filling all over it until there’s a nice layer on it. If you made the dairy free option, you will not use all the filling. Just spread a nice layer over the pumpkin and save the rest of the filling – you can use it on top of my oh so yummy grain free pumpkin pancakes recipe, in coffee as a special treat, on top of a sweet potato or squash, or just eat it right out of the bowl 😉

Once the filling is spread all over, now it’s time to roll it back up. I used the parchment paper again to help aid me in making a nice tight roll. But, this time around, do NOT roll the parchment paper up with the roll. My roll did crack in a few places, but that’s ok. Just roll it up nice and tight. I also used some plastic wrap to get it even tighter and then you want to place in the fridge for at least an hour. Enjoy!

P.S. If your pumpkin roll cracks as you roll it up, see picture caption above for options you can do to mask the cracks! Even if it totally cracks all the way through, don’t sweat it – I got you covered 😉

174 comments

My husband’s favorite is the pumpkin roll, too! Usually we use holidays as our complete cheat day but I may just have to do a Paleo Thanksgiving and make this! It’s just the desserts that I end up cheating with. It’s pretty easy to have a healthy Thanksgiving minus the dessert part. This looks great!

Thanks, Cathy!! We used to use holidays as a complete cheat day, too, but there are just too many amazingly delicious, healthy, Paleo recipes out there now that make it easy. And we’d actually rather have the healthier version now anyway. Fresh tastes best and our taste buds have come to know the difference and can taste artifical or processed ingredients a mile away! I hope you get to make the pumpkin roll for you and your husband!

Wow, it is very similar! We must have good taste 😀 I used/experimented with my pumpkin spice muffin recipe as a base for the roll because we love those so much and I figured it would make a great pumpkin roll, too. I like your blog, too!

Great idea!!! I’ve been dreaming up all the “rolls” I can make. I’m thinking a chocolate roll is in order asap. Maybe a cinnamon roll and a strawberry roll for Valentine’s Day. Hmmm, so many options! Have a great Thanksgiving!

I’m so glad to find this dairy free option, too. My little ones can’t have dairy and I’m always looking for good dairy free desserts that they can enjoy. They also can’t have almonds and I’m finding so many no grain recipes contain almond flour so this is such a great option for us. This looks delicious!

I made this last night using the dairy free filling and it is so good! Mine cracked as well when I rolled it up the 2nd time, but I used your advice and didn’t even care. haha! I’m going to make another one for Thanksgiving and I’ll probably end up putting more filling on top because I’ll be serving it to dinner guests.

Hi Sharon! I use 2 13.66 oz (403 mL) cans of coconut milk. I’ve found that Thai Kitchen brand works the best for getting good whipped coconut cream. We also found that this tastes even better when it hangs out in the fridge for at least a day. Hope he likes it!!

This is just the kind of dessert I’ve been looking for to take to Thanksgiving dinner. I have a quick question. What are the ounces for the coconut milk in the first filling recipe? The coconut milk at my local store comes in a carton and I want to use the right amount. I’m so glad I found your site. Thank you.

I use 2 cans that have 13.66 ounces (or 403 mL) in them each so you would want about 27 or 28 ounces total. So many of the cartons of coconut milk have so many added/other ingredients in them and are a very thin consistency – I’m not sure if they would whip. The cans of coconut milk have only coconut milk and water and I pour all the water out and just use the very thick coconut cream to whip. Hope that helps. Good luck!! Hope everyone loves it 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving!

I just finished making this and I am so pleased with the way it turned out. It smells so good. I can’t wait to taste it tomorrow. With your permission I would like to share your recipe (with a link to you) on my blog.
Have a great Thanksgiving.

Hi Denise, I would be so honored if you would like to share the recipe! Thank you 😀 I’m also glad it turned out good for you – I hope you like it as much as I do! By the way, I just became a fan on facebook of your website – I adore your style!! Can’t wait to see what else you think up 😉 Have a great day tomorrow!

Few questions… The can of pumpkin what size please. Also I have coconut cream in a jar so about how much would I need for this recipe. Hoping to make it later today so I hope you read these frequently. Thanks for the yummy recipe!

Hi Pat! You can use a 15 oz (425 g) can of pumpkin. This is purely a guess-timate on the coconut cream. But, I’m thinking I get about 3/4 of a cup of cream (after I dump the water out) per can of coconut milk. So I would try a cup and half of coconut cream for whipping. I’m thinking that would be plenty for the pumpkin roll. If it makes too much – that’s not really a bad thing 😉 Good luck! Hope everyone loves it 😀

I’ll be making this this year. I have a son who needs to be grain free and I love baking with coconut flour. Thanks for the recipe!

Not that I care, because I use maple syrup, but it is a refined processed sugar. The sap goes through a lengthy process to reach the bottle in the store. So the label refined sugar free” doesn’t really fit this.

about maple syrup : the only processing it goes through is boiling the sap. As the water evaporate from the sap, the sugar gets concentrated. This is the only way to produce pure maple syrup, so it’s not a refined sugar.

Just wanted to let you know that I made this for our Thanksgiving and it was a huge hit!!! No one could believe me that there was no flour in it and that it was the healthy version. I was told I had to make it every year for Thanksgiving now. Awesome awesome recipe!!!

Hi there! It goes in both the flour mixture and also a little bit goes in the filling, too. 1/3 cup + 1 additional Tablespoon goes in the flour mixture and 4 Tablespoons go in the whipped filling. Good luck!

I can’t see why you cant use an egg replacement I altered a German chocolate cake recipe for my nieces b-day and used egg re-placer so our cousins could have some and it worked just fine, just be sure to follow the directions for the egg on the package.

Yours is the firs recipe I have seen that offers using either xantham gum or arrowroot to thicken coconut whipped cream – and I am love with that idea! My question is: (I have arrowroot powder). Do you add the powder dry to the mix while whipping?

Hi Natasha! I whipped the coconut milk until it was the most whipped that it would be. Then I turned off my mixer and added the dry powder to the bowl and then continued whipping for a few minutes until it got thick enough to where I liked it. I hope that helps!

Hi Nora, The second time I use the parchment paper to help aid it along in the rolling procoess, but I do not roll it up with the parchment paper when the filling is in there. I hope that makes sense. I kind of just use the parchment paper to help roll it along. And then once it’s in a complete roll, you can either discard the parchment paper and wrap the roll in foil or plastic or you can just use the parchment paper as the wrap. Please let me know if you have any questions. I tried my best to explain it, but sometimes I am not so good with words and this was hard for me to explain 🙂

While the cake and frosting of this recipe is amazing… the assembly flopped big time. I was so excited to unroll the cake on the parchment paper… yet when i did, it was COMPLETELY stuck. I had to hand scrape all the filling off and just fill bowls with the cake and top with frosting. What did I do wrong? 🙁

Soooo I was really excited to try this, but it doesn’t work. I got whole coconut milk as specified, but I hate to tell you there’s no cream in it….so now we have a thin sheet of pumpkin cake and a bowl of cinnamon flavored milk. I’m quite disappointed.

You need to refrigerate the can of coconut milk to get the cream to rise to the top – otherwise it’s just milk! When it’s refrigerated, the cream rises to the top and the water goes down below. You should get about a cup of cream per can.

Thanks so much for sharing your recipe! My version didn’t look very pretty, but it tasted fantastic! It tasted a lot like pumpkin pie. Yum! It was my first time making any type of roll like this, grains or not, so I had a hard time rolling it. It just sort of pushed the filling forward as I was trying to roll it. Any tips for keeping the filling in there? We served it with more of the filling on top, so it didn’t matter all that much. The recipe is definitely a keeper! 🙂

Hi there! I saw this the other day and couldn’t resist trying it. It turned out wonderful and was so delicious! I did do something different though. I didn’t roll it. I baked it in a silicone 9×9 cake pan for 40 mins. I turned it out onto parchment paper then allowed it to cool. Once cool, I cut the cake in half, spread 1/2 of the cream on top then stacked the other piece of cake followed by another layer of the cream. I wish I had taken a picture to share! My family loved it! Now, I’m wondering how it might turn out if I switch up the pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice with applesauce and apple pie spice!

ooooo, I like the way you think!! I love what you did (wish you would have snapped a pic, too – sounds like it was really pretty!) and I think a apple pie spiced cake would be ahhhhmazing! I might have to try it asap 🙂

So I am super new to the paleo/primal world. I am trying your pumpkin roll. I am crossing my fingers and toes hoping that it goes well. It at least is making the house smell amazing! Thanks for the recipe. If it doesn’t work, I can eat least make a yummy trifle right? 🙂

I like the idea of your thinking ” healthy “. You might want to know that artificial sweeteners are not good for you.
Stevia, Splenda, Equal,.. etc., etc., are all of the Aspartame family. Aspartame is a chemically derived sweetener that produces mimic symptoms of M.S. and systemic Lupus in some folk.
The inventor of Aspartame also makes contributions to gov’t organizations. The Senator that tried to Outlaw Aspartame is no longer involved in Gov’t.
Let’s see now,… Sicken you with Aspartame and provide you with a pill to make you feel better. Hands seem to be in both pots don’t ya think?
Just sayin’

Wait, I’m confused! I never ever use artificial sugar in my recipes. Ever. And I totally agree with what you said, which is why I never use them. Where do you see that I use them? I only use pure raw honey and pure maple syrup!

Jay,
That is incorrect. Yes, Splenda is aspartame. Stevia is a herb and is one of the best alternatives for people who cannot have sugar. It is low glycemic as well. Leave the yellow, pink and blue packages of sweetener alone. Stick with the green one. Also, watch out for sucralose and other names aspartame goes under.

Hi Jon and Angela, Coconut flour is such a dense flour and doesn’t substitute easily or well. I wish there was an easy substitution I could give you, but there is not. As a general rule, you need 2/3 more other flour and less liquid and eggs than the coconut flour recipe calls for.

I have been experimenting with cooking primal and I bet if you added some tapioca flour, it would stop the cake from cracking. Through my experiements, I noticed that the nut flours cannot “stick” together as they are lacking a gluten-like substance. Tapioca starch is Primal-approved and gellifies when it cooks, so it simulates the structure that gluten would provide in traditional grain-based recipes. Ratios are typically 1-1 for the flours, and the best brand to use is Ener-G Tapioca Flour.

i just made this today but used applesauce instead of eggs. it tastes delicious and didnt have many cracks, but the texture is a bit gooey, kind of like pumpkin pie. i feel like it should have gotten a little stiffer, but i am guessing that is because of the applesauce?? however, the whip cream is amazing, was eating it right out of the bowl haha. thanks for the recipe! will make again, but might try a different egg substitute next time.

Hi, I’m looking forward to making this, but have a quick question. I don’t see where it says to add the maple syrup with the cake part of the roll. Can I assume it goes in with the pumpkin and other wet ingredients?

Like several others, I made this recipe according to the directions and it was an utter failure. When I went to unroll the roll part it had become soggy when cooling and the parchment paper was stuck to it. I also was unable to get the coconut cream to whip. I ended up scooping the soggy roll part into a casserole dish and topping it was the creamy (not whipped) filling on top of the roll part and it was like a pudding. I’m super bummed this didn’t work and I’d love to know what went wrong. Thanks.

Just made the dairy version of this (in an attempt to get my hubby to have some–he’s not a coconut milk fan). The batter was super good! But a recommendation to anyone else who plans to make the dairy version–you should probably use unsalted butter. I used salted and my roll definitely ended up a bit too savory >_<; Oh well, just means I have to try again! 🙂

This was super easy, but the roll itself is very thin – not like in the picture, and much lighter in color. Maybe I spread it too thin on the jelly roll? 1/3 c. flour still seems like not enough. Serving it for a baby shower & the bits I tasted were delicious. Thank you for coming up with this recipe & sharing it. I will make it again.

I can hardly wait to make this. I’m completely off of sugar, refined or otherwise. I recently tried coconut nectar and while it’s still ‘sugar’ the glycemic index is very low and I didn’t have much of an adverse effect. I would like to try the recipe without the honey or the coconut nectar. In your opinion could I substitute xylitol and if so do have any idea how? I’ve never baked much before and now that I have so many restrictions I’m totally at a loss sometimes. In any event I am so looking forward to trying this for my husband’s birthday. I’ll give the coconut nectar a go.

Loved it! I made the ‘with dairy’ version, and we love it! I actually have been eating it for breakfast! Gotta have a break from eggs once in a while, right?! 😛
Thanks!! 🙂
PS- this was the first roll I’ve ever made, and I was a little scared that it would be a disaster! But the recipe and directions are perfect, and mine didn’t even crack! 🙂

This dessert was AMAZING! I would NEVER think this is a dish that is in anyway made for a specialized diet. I’m following SCD/low FODMAPS, so I made just a few adjustments. It was truly delicious. I shared this with 3 of my neighbors as well as my parents. I was told it is a real signature dish and it was suggested I open a bakery! Thank you for an amazing recipe. I can’t say enough good things about this! You have a new follower! I wish I could include a picture of my pumpkin roll…it looked great. It hardly cracked at all, but I wanted to have extra whipped coconut cream so I spread it on the outside and then added roasted pecan pieces to add a bit of crunch.

Made it, it rocks and today I will TRY the same basic principle but with applesauce to make a caramel apple roll with pecans. Wish I could hurry it along:) Your recipes ALWAYS rock! Thanks for this yummy one!!!

I made this last year several times, and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!!!!!!
I have not been able to eat anything with a semblence of a “normal” baked good for 16 years. The texture of this is amazing and so normal!! And I love that the ingredients are all nourishing!!! The flavors, yummy!!!!!!
This is a win/win in every way!!
THANK YOU for this recipe!!!

I love your recipes!! I kept seeing this one on Pinterest so today I finally decided I had to make it. I.am.so.glad.I.did!! This is a wonderful Fall Dessert. My husband’s a diabetic but I only had to make a minor adjustment to the sugar amount to get it into the range we like to stay in for carbs. It was much easier to roll than I thought it would be too. Only a few minor cracks but once I spread the cream cheese filling over it, you couldn’t even see them. I put the final roll in the freezer so I could eat it sooner and it was heavenly!! Made it much easier to slice too. This roll would freeze really well in it’s whole form, or you can slice it, wrap each piece in plastic wrap and then store in an airtight container. That’s what I always do with desserts so that we’re not tempted to eat too much at one time. Thanks for this great recipe and this is definitely going to be a Fall Favorite for us 🙂

I made this for my family as a treat on Halloween (we don’t go trick or treating due to diet) and it was so good! I sprinkled toasted, chopped pecans on top of the coconut filling before rolling and it added a really nice textural contrast. Thank you so much for the recipe!

Iv’e been searching for grain-free Thanksgiving desserts to bring to dinner this year and stumbled on this recipe! My husband’s mom makes an amazing pumpkin roll every year and I’ve missed it since I’ve cleaned up my diet. I decided to test this out last night before Thanksgiving Day and it turned out wonderful! I love the texture of the “roll” part. It’s very moist and is almost the texture of pumpkin pie. I tested out both fillings but like the fluffier texture of the coconut version. My husband likes the cream cheese version slightly better because it’s more reminiscent of his mother’s recipe. I had a little bit of cracking but luckily rolled that part into the middle. It looks great too! I was shocked how great it turned out because I am such a novice baker. I’m looking forward to enjoying this treat on Thansgiving!

This might be (probably is) a dumb question but would this also be considered gluten free? I have a friend who was recently diagnosed with celiac’s, this is her first holiday season since the diagnosis so I know recipes like this would be great for her if it is gluten free!

I have 4 fresh coconuts that I need to use, do you know if it would work if I use the milk from the fresh coconuts? Or should I buy the cans? Just trying to find a way to use what I already have on hand. Thanks!

I think that would be great, Tricia! I haven’t tried it with fresh coconuts personally, but I would say for the filling, make sure you are just using the cream that rises to the top and that gets hard when refrigerated or else it won’t whip properly.

I made this for Thanksgiving because I am GF, but now I am also (refined) sugar free to lose weight. My MIL (who is not on a specific diet of any kind) tried it and said it was surprisingly really good. I LOVED it! Thank you so much for the recipe. I am going to make again for Christmas for my family (have of us have celiac’s disease or gluten sensitivity).

Oh side note, I was about to make another recipe that had almond flour in it but last minute changed my mind when I found your recipe. So just added the little bit of almond flour (tad less than 1/4 c) I had already got out and an extra egg to compensate. My roll did not crumble or break apart and was perfect consistency.

This turned out so yummy that I’m making another one for guests that are visiting this evening. I did not roll mine because I could see that it was starting to crack after it cooled. I cut the cake in 4 and layered it like lasagne in the largest bread pan that I have. It turned out wonderful. Everyone loved it at Christmas.

Note: I greased the parchment paper with coconut oil before baking to make it easier to remove. Also, I put coconut oil just on the edge of the pan before putting the parchment paper on. I found that this helps hold the paper down.

This is a great recipe! I don’t know why so many people had problems. Mine came out perfect and I was in a hurry too so my expectations weren’t high. No cracking or anything! Thank you so much for this recipe!

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